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Although legal marijuana continues to spread across the great American landscape, the federal government still maintains a strict no-tolerance pot policy for members of the US military. However, with the recent passing of initiatives to legalize weed in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington DC, the commanding forces behind our national defense has been forced to reiterate to its soldiers that the consumption of cannabis could result in court martial.

To ensure the military does not employ the use of stoned soldiers, the federal government mandates that all service members submit to regular drug testing. Yet, documents obtained by The Washington Post through the Freedom of Information Act indicates that many troops could be high as hell and no one would ever know because not every solider is being tested for weed.

At Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, where the recreational marijuana industry is in full swing, around 25% of the soldiers were not tested for pot in 2014, according to the Post. Yet, unfortunately, the troops stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado did not receive the same leniency. Records show that all 26,000 men and women on active duty were tested for marijuana this year.

While the data reveals fewer soldiers are getting busted for pot than in years past, there is nothing in the documentation to determine just how frequently these drug tests occur. Yet, apparently it does not matter, as Army officials claim that just knowing the possibility exists for a drug screen is enough to keep the majority of the armed forces pissing weed free.

“The results of our continued drug testing demonstrate the commitment soldiers have to the Army profession, regardless of a state’s legalization of marijuana,”

“With 98% of the Army population testing negative for illicit drugs, soldiers demonstrate their ability to take responsibility for themselves, reinforcing the fact that our drug testing program is working.”

It is for this reason that US military officials say there are no plans to ramp up the drug testing polices in legal marijuana states.

Do yoh think the U.S. Army Officials should rmp up the drug testing? Leave a comment above..

Shannon Smothers-Wansley joined Mississippi’s latest marijuana legalization push for her grandmother, who passed away in September 2011 after battling dementia, which took away her appetite.

“If she had access to something with cannabis in it, she would not have died of starvation,”

Smothers-Wansley told the Jackson Free Press.

The potential of cannabis as an appetite stimulant is among the key arguments from proponents of rolling back legal restrictions for marijuana for its medicinal purposes.

However, opponents of legalizing, or decriminalizing, weed point to the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not recognize cannabis or its extracts as a medicine. And despite the growing number of states and cities that have decided to start looking the other way when it comes to small amounts of recreational marijuana, the federal government continues to define marijuana as a Schedule-1 drug on the same level as heroin and cocaine.

But advocates in the Magnolia State hope that the momentum toward legalization, which is bolstered by the presence of the nation’s medical marijuana farm at Ole Miss, has made Mississippi more 420 friendly.

Last week, organizers of a statewide ballot initiative to legal and decriminalize, submitted language for the measure with the Mississippi secretary of state.

The proposal would end the prohibition on cannabis and fully legalize the use and taxation of marijuana for adults over age 21. Recreational users could have nine or fewer marijuana plants for their personal use. The state would classify anyone with more than nine plants as a cannabis farmer, required to pay an annual $25 fee to the local municipal or county. Prospective dispensers would have to pay $1,000 for a special license. Additionally, a state sales tax of 7 percent would be charged on all sales with the exception of medical marijuana and industrial hemp.

Three states, one district, and two cities will vote on various aspects of the nation’s drug laws on Tuesday but the most crucial marijuana decision being weighed in the coming days will be made by just one person. U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller could be about to start a legal revolution.

After a five-day hearing in California, she is considering the validity of the science surrounding pot’s classification as one of the most dangerous drugs in the world.

In May, she became the first judge in decades to agree to hear evidence relating to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s classification of marijuana which puts it in the same category as heroin and meth. Over the next few weeks, Mueller will comb through hundreds of pages of witness testimony, scientific research, and public health policy to determine whether the Schedule-1 Substance classification of marijuana is unconstitutional.

Her ruling will only apply in the specific case she is hearing, but some argue that a first judicial ruling against the legality of the DEA’s current drug classifications would invite a flood of similar legal challenges all over the country.

The case in question concerns six men who were charged with growing marijuana on national forest land. It dates back to three police raids in the Northern California town of Hayfork on October 3, 2011 conducted by two local narcotic task forces in tandem with the United State Forest Service (USFS) and California Highway Patrol (CHP). They confirmed what the agents had been suspecting for years: there was a massive grow operation hidden in the depths of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Over the course of several days, police arrested 15 suspects and uncovered more than 500 marijuana plants, 1,000 pounds of processed cannabis, eight firearms, and more than $35,000 in cash.Brian Pickard and Bryan Schweder, the two owners of the land, were pinpointed as the leaders of the operation, according to witness testimony and law enforcement officers.

Facing a variety of drug charges ranging from possession of marijuana to cultivation, the men face upwards of 10-15 years in prison. Nothing especially unusual thus far, but then the defense counsel argued that such tough legal sanctions should never have applied to marijuana in the first place.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Mueller agreed to grant an evidentiary hearing on marijuana’s classification.

Her decision was based on a tiny footnote written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Stevens in 2005. In the medical marijuana case of Gonzalez v. Raich, he wrote:

“We acknowledge that evidence proffered by respondents in this case regarding the effective medical uses for marijuana, if found credible after trial, would cast serious doubt on the accuracy of the findings that require marijuana to be listed in Schedule I,”

it reads.

“Respondents’ submission, if accepted, would place all homegrown medical substances beyond the reach of Congress’ regulatory jurisdiction.”

Do you think it should be labeled a schedule-1 substance? Leave a comment above.